My last two holiday reads in a bit of a catch-up: I’m horribly aware I did double posts over the last two days (Wednesday’s were at least on two different blogs) so I’m sorry if I’ve bombarded you and can promise you things will be back to normal from now! So here’s a book I enjoyed and one that came all the way over the sea to be skim read and left by the sea!

Veronica Chambers – “Kickboxing Geishas”

(22 July 2017, via BookCrossing, through Sian)

Published in 2007, so a little dated now, this book, subtitled “How Modern Japanese Women are Changing their Nation” takes an interesting look at various facets of Japanese women’s experience, whether of costume, travel and return, dating, work, entrepreneurship or traditional marriage, how these have perhaps changed and the women’s in-depth lived experiences. She travelled to Japan a number of times and subsumed herself into the culture with an anthropologist’s eye, having written other books on women’s experiences in the US: it was reasonably well put together but there were some odd orderings (words used a few chapters before they were explained; repetitions of explanations and comments) which made me think the book had perhaps been constructed out of a series of articles or even blog posts. This did dislocate the reading experience at times, but on the whole it was a good and engaging read.

It’s also fair-minded, and where the Japanese women seem to criticise Japanese men quite heavily for, in effect, not having moved with the times, and the author describes the common “Narita divorce” (a couple get back from honeymoon where the man couldn’t cope and the woman leaves him at the airport) and mature divorce (a salaryman retires and his wife gets sick of him), she does talk to men, too, and argues on their behalf.

The book talks of the Asian bubble and subsequent crash but of course doesn’t reach the most recent financial crisis, and it would be interesting to see how things have changed during and since that time – have conservatism and populism risen there, as they have elsewhere, for example?

Eileen Myles – “The Importance of being Iceland”

(04 November 2017, via BookCrossing, from Cari)

A book of essays on travel, mainly in Iceland, and art which was oddly written and I found unengaging – I skimmed for the bits about Iceland but didn’t read it properly. A shame, as Cari had sent it all the way from New York! It’s from the Semiotext(e) imprint of MIT so I fear maybe a little academic for me.

I’m currently reading “The Queen of Bloody Everything” by Joanna Nadin, a NetGalley book published on 8 February, a coming of age novel about a girl with a rather rackety mum being sucked into the orbit of a fascinating other family. There’s a dual time aspect in that the narrator seems to be telling it to her hospitalised mum, and it’s good and engaging so far. Plus the big book on Virtual Reality, of course! What are you up to with your early February reading?

Share this:

Like this:

Related

I rather struggled with the one Myles book I read (last year), Afterglow, which was billed as a memoir about her late dog but really was this bizarre mashup of fiction, poetry and memories. So I can’t blame you for not getting through a book of hers, even though the subject matter appealed to you.

The Japanese book sounds interesting but dated. But I can understand you giving up on the other one. I’ve just finished Flaneuse, and unfortunately the later chapters were not as good as the early ones. Review will turn up eventually… Now reading The Sense of an Ending for a Booker celebration later this year – Barnes writes so well! 🙂

Too bad about the Iceland book. I’ve always had a bit of a thing for that country. Been there once (my husband was less thrilled than I so I don’t see myself going back anytime soon). In my old age I definitely support putting down a book that isn’t working for you. Years ago I thought I had to finish reading every book I started.

it was reasonably well put together but there were some odd orderings (words used a few chapters before they were explained; repetitions of explanations and comments) which made me think the book had perhaps been constructed out of a series of articles or even blog posts. This did dislocate the reading experience at times, but on the whole it was a good and engaging read.

Ugh. this has been making me crazy of late. I’m OK with it in self pub stuff, but there was one on NetGalley and a library book, recently where both were train wrecks of continuity. Or paragraphs repeated verbatim chapters later. I think it was the NetGalley one where I even said I wish you could review the story v the writing.

I’m coming to the end of Aranyak by Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay and have also read the first two stories in a Persephone collection for the Persephone readathon I found out about yesterday. Sorry those essays were a disappointment, I hate it when a book lets me down.

I’m saving my Persephones for August as I have books I must read and review for Shiny but looking forward to seeing lots of Persephone reviews. It was a shame about the book, although Cari had warned me. it was worse that she posted it across the ocean and Matthew carried it in his suitcase down to Cornwall, for me to not really read it. Oops!

Oh! I’ve not said out loud on here that we’ve postponed it for a year! My TBR and reviewing commitments are quite extensive and Matthew has only been reading long books on Audible and has built up a surplus of 50-odd credits and needs to read shorter books for a while rather than 60-hour ones, so we came to a mutual decision, to both of our relief!